Parable of the Polygons

Vi Hart (of whom I'm an immense fan) and Nicky Case have made a kind of interactive essay, exploring how even slight individual biases can lead to large-scale cultural norms.

At each stage, you read a thing and then get a little toy to play with. The interactive vignettes do what games to do well — they allow you to feel exactly how a set of rules combine to produce unexpected results.

The content is very clear and smart, and I can't possibly explain it any better than they do. So go check it out!

I really love this interactive essay format. It looks like there are some more being collected at ExplorableExplanations.com, which I'm going to have to take a look at.